Glad my pic worked out for you.
tube may get to try it out before me, I STILL have not made it to the range to try them out.
My weekends are packed, but, I might be working on getting the perfect companion to the 39 this coming week, will keep everyone posted.
Mod Note:
This is the earliest recoverable post in the original Marlin 39 Club thread.
The rest of the original thread continues from here.
Last edited by ArfinGreebly; March 28th, 2012 at 02:49 AM. Reason: Salvage & Recovery
At age 42, I finally got my first .22 levergun. As I inherited it from my grandfather upon his death, I could well have waited a bit longer. We used to use this rifle on squirrel hunts, and I never could hit a stinkin' thing with it, consistently missing wide to the right; I told G-dad that I was sure the sights were in need of regulation, and he would tell me that my dad just never taught me to shoot properly (Dad and G-dad were not ever more than tolerant of each other.)
Fast forward to 2006. On the first trip to the range, I ended up drifting the rear sight 1/16" to the the left, maybe even a hair more. Now, if I can see a shotgun hull, I can kill it. I haven't had a chance to hunt with it yet, but I fear no squirrel if I'm carrying the 39.
"What's good for me might not be good for the weak-minded."- Augustus McRae
SGW, nice suspense building there. Look forward to reading of the new "companion" for your 39.
AJumbo, welcome in. Great story. Glad the sighting issue is resolved.
If there's any reason to own a 39 outside of the sheer joy of owning one, it's squirrel hunting!
Sadly enough, I bought mine of just that, and still have yet to hunt with it.
Nematocyst;
You founded this thread. WHY would you divorce your model 39!!??
OK, OK, I just couldn't pass it up.
Hope things get less stressful for you. Make time, go shoot the 39, you will feel better.
900F
Birth Certificate? What birth certificate? He don't need no steenkink birth certificate!
Nem, I also hope you feel better soon. I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through. Between that and the job, I know it's a stressful time.
Go out and get some 39A (or another lever) time when you can. I don't get to shoot often, but it helps me relax when I get the opportunity.
I did in fact get to give my Skinner a try. It was a pretty regular day in the low 60s, but the wind (at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15) was higher than I would have liked.
I shot with straight-from-factory settings, and it seemed to print very low. Like about 3 inches at 25 yards. After some adjustments, I ended up with 3 half-turns counterclockwise to raise the point of impact. The website says a half-turn moves the impact 2 inches at 100 yards.
This seemed to get me on pretty much dead on at 25 yards, but I'm not sure how well I'm doing at 50. I tried 4 half-turns, and it seemed to shoot higher than desired at 50 so I went back down to three.
I'm going to need a windless day and plenty of large paper targets (maybe some Shoot 'N Sees also) to be able to really hone in the way I would like. I am not a terrific shot at 50 yards to begin with, and it was hard to tell if my shooting at that range was being affected by ammo, gun/sights, my own shooting or the breeze. 40 grain Federal solids seemed to shoot a bit right, and 36 grain Federal HP seems to shoot a bit left. I thought that was strange.
Maybe I should find a range. It sure would help mitigate some of those variables. At least I'm dialed in to a degree I can live with at 25.
Well, the "surprise" companion was to be a very nice S&W model 17 that a co-worker wanted to get off his hands.
Of course I had to go and say "I think that's worth a lot more than you think it is!" and now it seems he might hang on to it, since now he's asking nearly twice what he first thought he could get for it. lol Suppose it's all for the best though, I'd rather not shark a friend, better that he be happy with whatever he ends up getting for it.
Now I'm looking for something a little more...single-actiony.
SGW, if the Buddhists are right, integrity results in extra karma points. You took the high road.
_________
I just visited a parallel universe containing another version of this club and left PM's for about 30 members who may not know that we exist over here.
If others did likewise, we could see an influx of new members.
My thoughts exactly.
Suppose I should wait till I get to the range...but I am thinking I might need a round front sight hood. At first I thought the "Wide Scan" hood was pretty neat but I can see how, looking down the barrel in my living room, people might think it's a bit of an annoyance with a peep sight.
Anyone else switch to a round sight hood, and if so, what did you choose? (MidwayUSA part numbers would be extra helpful.)
Suppose I could just lose the hood altogether, but...the ramp has a slot for a hood, seems like it should have one!
FINALLY!
After about 3 years of searching, my favorite gun shop had a nice used (1979 vintage) Marlin 39A on the rack. I almost missed it too... I get so used to not seeing them anywhere.
During that time I have picked up a couple of Winchester 9422's, a Marlin 1894C, a Savage 99 and a Marlin 336 from his shop, but the only 39's I ever saw were pretty rough.
Not in perfect shape, but pretty nice. Had some scratches in the stock which cleaned up OK with a scotchbrite sanding pad and some lemon oil. The stock has some nice figuring which is being hidden by the finish. Looks like the finish on the lower half of the stock has become somewhat opaque, so I may do some refinishing.
When it rains it pours... he also has a used Puma octagonal barrel .357 and a used Marlin 30-30 in stock today as well. Can't really afford the 39A, so I really can't afford a 2nd or 3rd one...
Put a Bushnell 1.75-4.5x scope on it with a Weaver base and Warne rings. Too late to shoot it tonight and no chance tomorrow because of Thanksgiving, but may later in the weekend.
I almost got a new one last year, but the price was about $500 and I think the older ones are nicer without the checkering on the stocks.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone
Pine Cone, from what I can tell from your photos, that rifle looks very nice.
(For some reason the photo of the stock doesn't match the thumbnail for it.)
It looks to be in very good condition. Congrats!
Of course, we look forward to a report when you get to shoot it after turkey.
Mind if I ask what you paid for it? Just to help those looking for used gauge what the going rate is.
Nem
Posted at .org
OK, I'll join.
I have been looking at one occasionally up at Cabella's in Hammond while passing through for work. I was impressed by it's quality and heft. I checked the serial number and determined it was a 1957-58 39A Golden Mountie. It came with a scope and nice leather sling but looks like the front sight hood was missing. I thought the price was a little high so offered lower and paid $300. All in all, I am happy with the purchase. The bore looks brand new, the stock has a few normal dings, and the blueing is probably 98%.
Nem - Don't know why the thumbnail and photo aren't the same... oh well... uploaded the pix from my computer to THR and it made the thumbnail.
Paid $369 plus tax for the rifle. Didn't try to haggle much since the rifle was what I wanted. The only thing wrong with it is the takedown screw is a bit buggered up, but I can always get another one from Marlin. Given the current gun frenzy I didn't want to risk losing it. I like the shop and almost all of the other small gun shops that were here 10 years ago are no longer in business.
Already had the scope, bought the rings and base for another $35.
Hoosier, thanks for coming over. Great gun. Mounties are so cool. Mine is a regular 39A,
but I intend to have the barrel cut to 18" or 20", so it'll be a Mountie with a pistol grip stock.
Pine Cone, $369 is a fine price. I paid $479 for mine new (not including fuel to drive an hour to get it).
Besides, 39's are relatively hard to find. I'd consider that a "score".
Got to shoot my "new" 29 year old 39A today. Shot somewhere between 150 and 250 rounds.
What a nice rifle. Took a few shots to get the scope dialed in, but once I did the 25 yard shots were pretty boring, the old one-ragged-hole story. At 50 yards I could dissect clay pigeons into pieces and then tiny fragments. A 100 yards the first target was great, but the 2nd and 3rd weren't as good. Still better than I normally shoot with a 22, and a bit better than my Winchester 9422's seem to shoot. Might be the longer barrel, might just be that the last year of practice is starting to pay off. I'll have to bring them both out sometime and do a shoot-off.
Everything I've heard about the accuracy of the 39A seems to be true. It's a very accurate rifle.
Mine is obviously broken in and is very smooth cycling. No idea if any previous owner had the gun worked on, but I like the trigger and really like the rifle. This one won't show up again on the used market for a long time, probably not in my lifetime at least. It's a keeper!
Good to read a positive range report, Pine Cone.
That's a problem with some new ones. Mine still has some cycling issues. It's probably ammo related (says my gunsmith), but also just needs to be shot more. Ah, if I only had more time.Mine is obviously broken in and is very smooth cycling.
I had heard of cycling problems with the 39A, but this gun clearly doesn't have them. I mostly shoot CCI Bulk 22LR now since it seems to be the best mix of quality and price. This gun seemed to love it!
My 1894C, however, is still too new and is a bit finicky about the bullet shape and length of the ammo it likes. I guess I just need to force myself to shoot it more... It takes a lot of the fun out of shooting if you have fail-to-fires and feeding/cycling/ejecting problems.
Pine cone,
I also have a 79 39A, I've been it's "sponser" for well over 25 years now.
Sweet looking gun there. Those are not scratches they're badges!
- Mark
If it ain't a rock or pointy stick, it's a copy.
76shuvlinoff - I like the concept of being a rifle's sponsor, since a good gun will outlast many "owners"
My oldest rifle is a Winchester pump 22 short rifle which once was "sponsored" by my grandfather when he was on a ranch in Idaho. It's a bit over 100 years old now!
So, I'm rooting around in my gunsafe, right?
I know I have a box of .30 carbine in there somewhere, but I (Foolishly) sold that rifle years ago. I'm going to donate the bullets to a friend that has one.
I'm pulling stuff out, and digging around, and I start pulling out rifles to make room.
So I reach in there and come out with this really nice 39A.
Dangit, Bobby... I haven't fired this thing in quite some time.
Some of you might remember that I tried pretty hard to get it set up with what's probably the only 3-9X40 rimfire Leupold in the county.
It kinda got out of hand.
The last time out, my new scope mount was drilled crooked and I couldn't get the scope to move far enough to the left.
To add insult to injury, I had dropped one of my adjuster caps on the ground and stepped on it. It looked like a big whiskey dent on the side of my scope.
I figured I should at least put the replacement cap I ordered on before I put it up, and then I spotted that adjustable set of millet rings in there.
Hmmm... I wonder.
I dialed the scope back so that the crosshairs were in the center of their travel, and attempted to mount the scope so that the thing was straight in relation to the barrel. Those millett rings offer a pretty wide range of adjustment.
It looks like I succeeded. Now, I guess I need to take it to the range and see if it will shoot straight.
Maybe we should organize another model 39 only shootoff.
Anybody interested?
My Mounties and I will play. Set it up and lets get shootin'
Alright folks, I nearly slapped myself after doing this.
Make absolutely sure the ejector is secured down when cleaning/clearing your 39A!
Got to take my 39A out today, finally, to try out my Skinner sight. Good thing I work in a very conservative office - all the guys I work with are gun nuts, and so every other week we head out to the local gun range for our lunch break. We usually do pistols but we decided to do rifles this time because I wanted to get that sight out (and of course I wanted to show off my 39A!). So we head out. One guy brings his new SKS and Rommy G AK, I bring my 39A, and a third guy comes to tag along and take turns with our guns.
Good news is, the Skinner sight works wonderfully. I left the front sight where it was, and the Skinner works perfectly. I believe JustSayMo said his Skinner sight is screwed all the way down when using his with the stock front sight. Well, I still had quite a bit of travel left, I was surprised. I had to screw it up 7 or 8 times (front the bottom) before I was on target. Then again, maybe my rifle shoots low. At 50 yards with the stock folding rear buckhorn sight, it took 4 or 5 "steps" on the elevator to get to the bulls (whereas I've heard people say theirs is dead on when it is flat). Anyway, it is super easy to adjust. I needed just a tad of windage, and the dovetail in the Skinner drifted without much effort and stayed secure.
Now bad news. I put 30 or so rounds down range and then I decided to let my friend have at it. I loaded the mag up with 15 rounds and showed him how the action works (including how to put the hammer down on a live round). Then I step a few benches over to spot for the other guy sighting in his SKS. Few minutes later, he says he is done. I walk over and ask how many he shot. He didn't remember. I notice the lever and bolt are closed and the hammer is down. I ask if there is a round in the chamber. He says yes, there is. So I say okay. The gun is resting on the bench.
(Dumb mistake - always, always check the chamber YOURSELF when picking up a firearm)
I sit down and pick up the rifle, thumb the hammer back, and let it go. Nothing. I ask if he was fibbing, or this is a dud, or what. Either way I push the lever and open the bolt - no case ejects. So I look, and the case is stuck in the chamber. I close and open the bolt a few times, but the extractor will not find purchase on the case rim to eject it. I discovered the following later - it was in fact an empty case when I picked up the gun and fired it again - so the case got a double whack with the firing pin. Where some folks seem to get light strikes, mine seems to hit hard. The rim of the case was truly crushed, and I believe this distorted the case rim just enough to be able to escape the extractor.
So I get all upset about it but brush it off, and wait till I get home tonight. I take down the rifle, and insert a cleaning rod into the muzzle end of the barrel in an effort to push the case out. *moody music here* I push the guide spring out of the way and exert some effort on the rod. It was slightly stubborn, but not too bad. A few bumps, then a big bump, and POP. The rod, with the empty case on the end, came fast out of the chamber and smashed into the ejector. Here I was all ready to just get this thing out of my gun I had forgotten to fasten the ejector down. It smashed the ejector back 180 degrees in it's brass base, which caused the brass base to buckle in the middle, which in turn caused one of the screws securing it to the receiver to literally snap in half.
25 bucks for a new ejector assembly on Midway, folks!
I managed to bend the brass base back straight, however the end of the snapped screw was still threaded inside it, so it was a no-go. Rest of the gun seems fine though.
Midway had range bags on sale, and I wanted to try out Marble's Catch 22 speed loaders, so I had a Midway order coming anyway. But still. Let this be a lesson to everyone! Secure those ejectors!
SGW42, what ammo are you using?
Federal 510, mostly.
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